South Africa - You can now open an FNB account by taking a selfie

Banking group FNB has unveiled a host of new banking technologies being added to its platform, including a new ‘seamless and paperless’ process to opening a bank account – by simply taking a selfie.

According to the bank, the new feature – which is already live – will use biometrics and location tracking, along with integration with the Department of Home Affairs, to make the sign-up process as simple as possible.

FNB CEO Jacques Celliers said that, as a major financial institution with its fingers in many different sectors of finance, its banking platform has been able to integrate with different aspects of a customer’s life and bring them to a central platform.

He used the example of how the bank’s Nav app is able to use the same data as is used when a vehicle is registered for financing to let customers renew their licences and pay fines. Another example is how the bank is able to also deliver home valuation, as it’s part of the process it uses when financing homes.

Through ‘selfie’ banking, FNB said it will leverage its standing relationship with the Department of Home Affairs.

For business owners, the bank’s integration into CIPC and SARS will play a similar role for sign-ups.

To address the legal questions around the system, Celliers said that the legal department worked to build a framework where any time a client begins a relationship with the bank, they agree to certain terms and conditions, and then every new product adopted carries a separate annexure to that agreement.